Dine Out: Grimaldi's and Share Our Strength
Kids love pizza, and Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, a coal-fired, brick-oven pizzeria with 49 locations in 16 states, loves to serve it to them. But Grimaldi’s realized that 1 in six kids (or 13 million children nationwide) will face hunger in the United States, and it teamed up with No Kid Hungry, to encourage patrons to donate $5 per visit and receive a coupon good for $5 off or $10 to receive a $10 off coupon on their next visit.
The Grimaldi’s 5th Annual Dine Out for No Kid Hungry promotion ran from September 1 through 30th in 2017 at all of the chain’s locations. It was an integral part of the company’s business objective of driving traffic to their restaurants, increasing year-over-year sales, and ensuring that employees connect with their communities and their customers while feeling a sense of pride in being part of the Grimaldi’s team. It was promoted through front door clings and was presented to customers as they received their checks. Emails were sent at the beginning and midway point to Grimaldi’s 450,000-member database asking members to help support No Kid Hungry.
No Kid Hungry develops pioneering cause marketing promotions, effectively fighting hunger on the local level while engaging the public to make ending childhood hunger a national priority. Their cause marketing partnerships with nationally recognized brands help No Kid Hungry shine the spotlight on the crisis and mobilize a powerful movement of individuals committed to bold action. The program engages 15,000 restaurant locations, hundreds of thousands of employees, and millions of diners in the fight to end childhood hunger.
Grimaldi’s employees were educated on the stats of childhood hunger in the cities of each individual store, associates were provided with No Kid Hungry pins and encouraged to wear orange to show their support for No Kid Hungry. There was also a friendly contest between stores to see which could raise the most donations for the cause. (The winner was the Grimaldi’s in Tucson, which raised $21,775 and earned bragging rights and recognition in the company newsletter.)
During the campaign, 8,760 donations were received (an average $13.13 per donation) for a total raised of $115,000. Eric Greenwald, COO of Grimalid’s, is firmly behind the campaign, and told other restaurant industry leaders, “ROI—we talk a lot about that in our industry. I have a simple one for you: the investment in passion, time, and energy in ending childhood hunger here in America. The return is amazing. On average, over the past four years, we’ve seen a seven to 10 percent increase in same-store sales from the Dine-Out promotion.”
The $115,000 donation will allow No Kid Hungry to provide 1,150,000 additional nutritious meals for kids in need—an incredible impact for a brand of only 49 locations.
